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Basalt boys soccer handles Aspen in first of two meetings between rivals this season

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Austin Colbert

Players battle for possession as the Basalt High School boys soccer team hosts Aspen on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, on the BHS campus.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

As big as the win was, Basalt High School boys soccer coach Thomas Olson hopes the players will look at it as just another game. The Longhorns hosted rival Aspen on Thursday, winning 4-1 to send their roller-coaster season into another upward trajectory.

“We don’t want to get cocky. We want to keep ourselves grounded and keep working hard,” he said. “They definitely know most of the Aspen kids from growing up, so it’s always fun to go out and beat your rival, beat your friends. We just got to keep our heads and keep grounded and keep on working.”

Basalt is now 3-0-2 over its past five games against Aspen, the last loss to the Skiers coming during the 2021 season, in Aspen. This was the first of their two meetings this season, although only the second game on Oct. 19 in Aspen will count toward league play.

“It feels great. Would have been nice to keep a clean sheet, but it happens. This was a big win for us, and we are really excited,” said BHS junior Mik Levy, who likes what he sees from the large group of underclassmen that makes up the bulk of the roster this fall.

“I’m really excited they are stepping up and playing in big roles,” he continued. “They were a little timid at the beginning, but they’ve gotten a lot better, and I’m excited for that.”


Basalt had goals from Jeffrey Ramos, Levy, and Marcos Gonzalez, as well as a late penalty-kick goal from Lorenzo Salazar. They were never really threatened by Aspen after getting off to a quick start on Thursday.

Giovanni Seeman scored for the Skiers.

Players battle for possession as the Basalt High School boys soccer team hosts Aspen on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, on the BHS campus.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Players battle for possession as the Basalt High School boys soccer team hosts Aspen on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, on the BHS campus.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

“We definitely didn’t start this game the way we meant to start this game,” AHS coach Oren Schragger said. “Having the wind at their back in the first half was a huge advantage for them, and they punished us for a couple of big mistakes in the beginning. Definitely a little bit of a disappointing start for us, but we did pick it up in the second half.”

Aspen had a disadvantage of sorts as it was only the third game of the season for the Skiers, who did not play their first game until Sept. 12, a 4-0 loss to Steamboat Springs. Basalt, on the other hand, has now played eight games and the extra time spent together on the pitch made a key difference.

Aspen, now 1-2 with a win over CRMS last Tuesday, plays Saturday at Roosevelt (2-3-1). The Skiers will return to league play with a home game against Rifle this coming Tuesday, Sept. 24.

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“The way that we come out, we get very, very amped and we have a lot of energy. But I think a little bit more focus needs to be on the way we are playing, and not necessarily the raised heart rate,” Schragger said. “This first one, it hurts, but we do get that second chance to go out there.”

Basalt, now 4-4 overall, has a short break before playing Oct. 1 at Roaring Fork. The Rams, along with Vail Mountain, are the early front-runners in the Class 3A Western Slope League.

“It’s a young team. We are building mentality. That’s the hard part,” Olson said of trying to find consistency in the back half of the season. “It’s slowly building. It’s going to take a little bit, but there is a lot of potential with this team.”

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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